Playing Favorites
by KLafferty6
Summary: set between 3.15 and 3.16. If someone had told Haley James 2 years ago she'd be caught in a tug of love between Nathan Scott and Brooke Davis, she would've called them crazy only now, that's exactly what's happening. Fluffy. NHlove BHfriends. UD 92207.
1. Chapter 1

**_hey guys, this is kinda something I was just drabbling with, hoping to get back into the writing mode. I'm thinking about continuing it but don't really know where to go with it, so read and review and let me know if:  
a.) it's worth continuing  
and  
b.) if it's worth it, what you'd like to see happen.  
I'm aiming for as little drama as possible, something light, fluffy, and funny.  
Thanks to my TA's (Dawnie and Bit Bit) for the help and... well, let's call a spade a spade, pressure to write down the few thoughts I had swimming around in my head. Love ya girls!_****_  
_**

"Nathan! You guys are always here! Can't you like, leave?" Brooke whined out, watching with a disgusted eye as Tim polished off the rest of the pizza her and Haley had ordered half an hour ago.

"Brooke, she's MY wife." Nathan defended, pulling Haley closer into his side.

"Oh NOW she's your wife." Brooke mumbled out, eliciting a chuckle from Tim until Nathan silenced him with a glare.

"Brooke" Haley bit out, swatting at Tim's hand as he reached for the slice of pizza still on her plate.

"Sorry. It's just that you're MY roommate, and I'm an only child, sharing wasn't something I had to do!"

"Fine, you want us to leave?" Nathan asked, receiving an excited nod from the brunette. "Okay then. Let's go Hales."

"Nooo! That's not what I meant. You go. Leave her, here." Brooke plopped down on the couch next to Haley, pulling the blonde closer to her.

"Why don't you call Lucas?" Tim mumbled through a mouth full of Cheetos.

"Okay. One, ew; chew with your mouth closed Dim. And two, Lucas is busy tonight." Brooke stated shortly, resting her head on Haley's shoulder.

"Busy with Peyton?" Nathan leaned forward, smirking at Brooke provokingly. Tightening her grip on Brooke's arm, Haley sent a 'shut up' glare his way as he sank back into the couch.

"Bet your sharing skills would come in handy now." Tim laughed to himself, immediately cowering when two sets of angry eyes turn to him.

Slumping back against the couch, Brooke set her face in a pout. "Haley!! Make them stop!"

"Okay. Everybody just…chill. Tim, seeing as how Brooke bought that pizza, and the majority of our food that you inhale, I'd suggest not biting the hand that feeds you. Nathan, if you ever want there to be a reason for Brooke to respect a black scrunchie, I'd keep my comments to myself. Brooke-" she turned to face the brunette who smiled widely after sticking her tongue out at both boys. "Nathan is my husband and no matter where I live or who I live with, he's going to be around."

"Whatever. Just go play house with your little boy toy."

Elbowing Nathan in the side as he rolled his eyes, Haley leaned over to loop her arm around Brooke's neck, pulling their heads together until they're cheek to cheek.

"Awww, Brooke. You know I love you."

"But not as much as him." Brooke pointed, glaring at Nathan whose expression drew curious at how his wife was going to respond to that one.

Looking between the two on the couch, Haley smiled softly. "It's a different kind of love, sweetie."

"You know Brooke," Tim started lowly, breaking the silence that had settled over the group. "If you need some lovin', I'm –"

"Smith, finish that sentence and I will dismember you faster than you can say castration."

- - -

"God, I swear Tim is going to eat us out of house and home." Haley yawned as she rolled up her sleeves and reached into the sink.

Coming up behind his petite wife, Nathan secured his arms around her waist, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.

"Hales, leave those dishes for tomorrow. Look at you, you're exhausted."

Unable to help herself, she leaned back into his touch, angling her head further to the left to give Nathan better access as he placed light kisses up and down her neck.

"Mmmm…I can't. I'm off tomorrow from the café, but Brooke has planned this whole, 'Hos over Bros' day with me and Peyton, so I'll be gone all day and they won't get done."

"Haley!" Nathan whined.

"Nathan," Haley turned around, looping her arms around his waist. "I know you and Brooke don't always get along well, but she's my roommate, and my friend, and as much as I love you and love being with you; it's kind of nice to have girlfriends too."

"Haley, you have girlfriends?!" Tim stopped mid stride, staring wide-eyed at the couple. "Who knew Tutor Girl was a freak?!"

"Tim, get out." Nathan and Haley responded; laughing when they heard him scamper back to the living room to tell Brooke the news.

"ANYWAYS, like I was saying, I'm joining in on the festivities of 'girl's day out' tomorrow."

"Fine, then come stay with me tonight." Nathan set his face in determination, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Nathan, you know I'd love to but –"

"Hales!" Nathan ran a hand through his hair, a tell tale sign of his aggravated state.

"Nathan, I'm sorry!" Haley started, bringing his hand up to her mouth, brushing a kiss across his palm. "It's just that, with Lucas busy doing God knows what, I don't want to leave Brooke in the apartment alone."

"Haley, Brooke is a big girl; she can take care of herself. Besides, she lives in Tree Hill, it's like a rule for teenagers to be left alone and unattended."

"Nathan I know, but Brooke's been really…" she trailed off, trying to find the word most appropriate.

"Needy?" he filled in.

Rolling her eyes, she brought her arms from around his waist to wrap around his neck, pulling herself closer.

"Look Hales, all I'm saying is, Brooke didn't stay with you every night when we were…not, us…did she? One night on her own is not going to turn her into some latch key kid."

"Nathan I've stayed with you every other night!" she sighed, feeling her resolve slip a bit.

"Yeah and those are the only nights that I've gotten any decent sleep since you left the first time!" Nathan leaned forward, pressing a hungry kiss to her lips, not waiting for access to push his tongue through her lips, stroking it along hers seductively, willing her to argue with him now.

"Hey Haley Tim said-"Brooke walked in, her face contorting distastefully as she looked on. "Okay, ew. Can we not do that in the same room as the food I eat please?"

"Did you need something Brooke?" Nathan pulled away from Haley breathlessly, glaring at the intruding brunette.

"Yeah, I need bleach to wash that image out of my head." Brooke mumbled, pushing her palms to her eyes.

"Oh Brooke, shut up! You had sex; in our bed!" Haley motioned between her and Nathan.

"I washed the sheets!!" Brooke stomped her foot in protest, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"Wait you…you did WHAT in our bed?!" Nathan's brow knit together in confusion, shifting his gaze from Brooke to Haley.

"Oh please. So every night you two are here, you're all screwed up in Haley's little bed? I think not." Brooke rolled her eyes, gasping when she took in the sight of the blushing blonde before her.

"Ha! I knew it! Haley you always were fascinated with the roundness of my bed, and there's no possible way Jolly Green Giant here would fit on your bed comfortably." Brooke laughed, eyeing the couple knowingly. "Its okay tutor-wife, what's mine is yours…Tutor Husband, not so much."

"Brooke-"Haley ground out, burying her face further into Nathan's chest. "Did you need something?"

"Oh yeah!" She jumped in excitement, the original idea from earlier coming back to her. "I'm going to stay at P.Sawyer's tonight because she's got new artwork and I want to see if any of it will work for my fashion line. Wanna come?"

"Ummm…" Haley drew out, leaning up to look at Nathan's expectant face.

"Come on Haley! When's the last time we had a slumber party?" Brooke bounced, a mischievous smile playing at her lips.

"Uh, the last time you had sex in our bed?" Haley mocked, causing Nathan to wince with discomfort.

"Actually-"the brunette started, only to be cut off by Nathan.

"Can we not have that conversation again? Thanks." He returned his gaze to Haley, mustering up the best puppy dog eyes possible.

"Actually Brooke, I think I'm going to stay with Nathan tonight." Haley smiled, resting her head back down against Nathan's chest.

"Tutor Girl!! No fair, he used the puppy dog eyes!" she whined, turning to Nathan with a glaring pout.

"Brooke come on, she'll be with you all day tomorrow, let me have her for the night." Nathan compromised, possessively tightening his arms around Haley as Brooke sighed in agreement.

"Why do I feel like a child in the midst of a custody battle?" Haley mused.

Ignoring Haley's comment, Brooke's focus stayed on Nathan. "Fine you can have her tonight, but I want her dressed and at Peyton's at 9 sharp!"

Breaking in, Haley laughed. "Um excuse me? I'm not getting up and going any where at 9 A.M on my day off; sorry."

"Fine. 11, but not a minute after Haley James!"

"Scott." Haley and Nathan both added in, sharing a sweet smile.

"Whatever." Brooke dismissed with a raise of her hand. "Okay, well I'm going to drop Dim off at home and then head to Peyton's. You kid's behave, don't get too rowdy on my bed; those sheets are silk."

Wide-eyed, Haley began pushing Brooke out of the front door, making sure to pull Tim along with her.

"Alrighty then Brooke, see you tomorrow!" Haley exclaimed, shutting the door and securing the lock before turning back to a smirking Nathan.

"What are you smirking at?" she looked at him hesitantly.

"I don't think of you as a child." Nathan spoke up, leering at Haley as he stalked the small distance between them.

"This is good to know…" she laughed, eying him curiously.

"How about I prove to you just how grown up I think you are?" He said, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder; smacking lightly at her bottom as she shrieked loudly.

- - -


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I really didn't know if I had any intention of continuing "Playing Favorites"** **when I first started it, but inspiration struck this morning and with a little help - and when I say a little, I mean a lot - of help from Dawn, I came up with this. **

**So with that said, I'd like to thank Dawnie Marie, my Q, she's a beauty (as is her "Reflections" update, you know, just sayin'). Anyways, hope you enjoy, I do plan on continuing this although I can't guarantee when the next update will be. **

**Read and Enjoy, Reviews are welcomed, they make my eyes smile.**

* * *

"So how was the boring married sex last night?" Brooke asked distractedly; flipping through the blouses on the rack in front of her, picking one up and studying it before making a displeased face and shoving it back. 

Narrowing her eyes at the brunette before her, Haley smirked. "Well I'll tell you one thing – it was definitely not boring."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but you have no pre-martial sex to compare it to so you're not the best judge, Tutor-girl."

"Okay seriously, I could really live the rest of my life without having to hear the details of either of your sex lives; boring or not." Peyton shouted from the fitting room, eliciting a giggle from both girls.

"I can't believe you're only going to have sex with one guy – ever." Brooke mumbled distastefully towards Haley.

"Well that's the plan." Haley laughed, shoving a barely-there top in front of Brooke, causing her eyes to light up before her nose crinkled again in disbelief.

"I mean that just...sucks. How many guys have you even kissed?"

"Uh three…"

"Including Chris Keller?" Brooke quirked her eyebrow, doing her best to suppress her knowing smirk.

"Four." The blonde deadpanned with a glare.

"Four…you're only going to have kissed four guys in like, your entire life? That's just wrong." She shook her head in disbelief before turning around to dramatically drape her arms across another rack of clothes.

"P. Sawyer, hurry your slow ass up! I swear sometimes you're a slower shopper than I am!" she wailed, causing the blonde to whisk the curtain of the dressing room aside in astonishment.

"Chill out B.Davis. It's not like we're on a time schedule or anything." Peyton rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh but we so totally are!" Brooke exclaimed, clapping excitedly as they made their purchase and walked out into the busy mall. "We have to hit all the major clothing stores and the lingerie store for Haley. And then…"

"Whoa, whoa…why are we going to the lingerie store for me?" Haley asked hesitantly, looking over for help from Peyton who just shrugged.

"Um, because if you're only ever going to have sex with one person, the least we can do is make it interesting." Brooke stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, leaving the two girls half expecting a 'duh' to escape her lips.

"Brooke, I already told you, more than once and far too often, Nathan and I do NOT have boring sex!" Haley exclaimed, eliciting a sigh from Peyton and a doubtful look from Brooke.

"Whatever, we're still going and you're still going to get something hot and skimpy to wear for Superstar if and when I decide to let him have you back." Brooke said matter-of-factly.

"Just make sure it's red…I love my girl in red." A deep voice chuckled from behind accompanied by a giggle, causing the three girls to turn around in confusion.

"Tim, did you just giggle?" Peyton laughed.

"How much of that did you hear?" Haley asked Nathan, already feeling the tell tale signs of a blush creeping across her face.

"Enough to know Tweedle Dee over here plans on holding you hostage from me." Nathan said latching onto Haley's hand and pulling her into him; her back resting against his chest as his arms slid tightly across her middle.

"Tweedle Dee." Tim slapped his knee in laughter. "If she's Tweedle Dee, who's Tweedle Dumb?"

"You." The four surrounding him chimed simultaneously, causing his face to drop, if only for a second, before shrugging with acceptance.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Brooke screeched, glaring at Nathan and the sight of him all wrapped up around Haley.

"Playing monopoly." He deadpanned, rolling his eyes when he got he received a confused glower. "What do you think I'm doing here Brooke? It's a mall, I'm shopping."

"Yes, smart ass I know, but why?" Brooke half demanded, half whined.

"Because I can Brooke, what's the big deal?" Nathan fired back.

"The big deal is that this is girl's day out, Meaning you, and him-" she started, thrusting her finger at Tim accusingly "-although sometimes I wonder- are supposed to be in! Or at least away from us!"

"Brooke, chill out. We didn't even know you were going to be here. I called Nate up to see what he was doing, he said nothing; I suggested the mall so I could get some more cologne." Tim rationalized, reaching out to place a calming hand on Brooke's shoulder but pulled away when her fiery glare switched to him.

"Aww Tim, you can always just borrow my perfume again." Haley joked, causing Tim to grimace and Nathan to laugh at the memory.

"Hardy har har." Brooke bit out, an ever increasing pout settling on her lips. "Haley, can you please detangle yourself from him so we can continue on our way?"

Shaking her head with a soft laugh, Haley slowly pulled out of Nathan's arms, giggling lightly at the dissatisfied groan he let out. "Yes Brooke, let's go." Turning around to face a now pouting Nathan, she rose up on her tip toes and placed a chaste but sweet kiss on his lips. "I'll call you later, love you."

"I love you too. Peyton, make sure Psycho over there doesn't kidnap her." Nathan grunted as he slowly walked away; evil eyeing Brooke who linked arms with Haley and grinned widely. Linking her free arm with Peyton, Brooke continued through the mall, rounding the corner to the lingerie shop before stopping dead in her tracks.

"What in the hell?!?" she practically screamed, stomping her foot in aggravation upon seeing Nathan posted up against the outside wall of Victoria's Secret.

"Nathan, babe, what are you doing here?" Haley questioned, unable to hide the amusement in her voice.

"Well I was thinking I might actually be useful to Brooke's little 'girls day out' plans." He replied, beaming a seemingly sweet smile in Brooke's direction.

"Doubtful." The brunette snorted glaring at Nathan with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"No, really. You're going lingerie shopping for Haley right? Well, technically for me cause well, you know…"

"Get to the point Scott." Peyton waved him on with her hand.

"Anyways, I was just thinking, who would be a better judge of what to get for her than I would?" He finished with an innocent smile, causing both Peyton and Haley to burst out in laughter.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'm so down!" Tim exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited child, earning a warning glare from Nathan.

"Down boy." Peyton said through laughter, patting him on the head.

"Go away Nathan. Its girl's day out so Haley is mine for the day. Keep it up and you might not even get her tonight." Brooke threatened, eyeing down the raven haired boy before tightening her grip on Haley's arm.

"You two are ridiculous." Peyton muttered, shaking her head at the challenging stares between her two friends.

"It was a nice try Honey, I commend your efforts and I promise you, they'll be rewarded later." Haley cooed, running her free hand languidly across his shoulder until she felt the tension there diminish.

"Ookay, so on that unnecessary note of married verbal foreplay, let's go." Peyton exclaimed, stepping between the couple. "Nathan, the sooner you let Brooke have her way, the sooner it'll be over, okay?"

Tim laughed. "Is that-"

"Shut up Tim." Peyton bit out, knowing wherever he was going with that would either be stupid or inappropriate. Although knowing Tim, probably both.

"Fine, let's go Tim." Nathan said with one more sorrowful look towards Haley, who blew him a kiss.

"You two are sickening; I think I liked him better when he was drunk and moping all the time." Peyton said with a laugh, eliciting an agreement from the perky brunette who seemed to have completely forgotten she was upset in the first place.

Rolling her eyes at her two friends, Haley walked aimlessly around the store, finding everything to be just a little bit too pink. She stopped when she came across Brooke who had picked up a bottle of flavored body cream and was eyeing it curiously.

"That one doesn't really taste like anything." She said, taking that bottle out of Brooke's hand and replacing it with a brown one. "This one's better, it taste like chocolate." Noticing the questioning smirk on the girl's faces, she shrugged with a coy smile.

"I told you it wasn't boring."

- - -

"Brooke can we _please_ go now?" Haley begged for what seemed the hundredth time. "My feet are killing me and I've already bought way more than I should have. I'm not a seasoned shopper like you are, I have no stamina and I'm pretty sure my stomach is eating itself!"

"Bit dramatic don't you think Haley?" Peyton laughed but plopped down on the bench right beside the whining blonde; rubbing the spot on her arm where the shopping bags had made an indention.

"You two are such wimps." Brooke shook her head condescendingly, looking around the mall to make sure she didn't miss any stores or sales. "Fine, yes we can go. We've got other plans anyways."

"Oh my god!" Haley exclaimed, jumping up and pulling Peyton along with her. "Please tell me it involves food?" She asked excitedly, dragging both the girls towards the parking lot.

"You are a sad, sad person when deprived of food Haley James Scott." Peyton said as they loaded the things into her trunk, pulled out of the parking garage and made their way to Karen's Café.

After having a nice meal and chat with Karen, Brooke directed Peyton to her favorite salon, surprising the two girls with full mani-pedis. As the three of them were laid back, enjoying their foot massages Brooke began discussing the plans for the cheerleaders fundraiser for this year.

"So I was thinking we could do it like carnival style this year, have different games and booths, maybe a few rides, some raffles. What do you guys think?"

"I think it's a great idea B.Davis. Definitely better than the car wash last year." Peyton recalled with a smile.

"Yeah, a car wash in late October, not the best idea; I swear half the squad was ten degrees away from going into hypothermic shock. Who knew none of them would have enough sense not to wear their skimpiest bikini?" she mused before turning to Haley who was texting on her phone, a light smile across her face. "What do you think Hales?" Not receiving any response, Brooke cleared her throat. "Heelllloooo, earth to Tutor Girl?"

"Haley Scott!" Peyton shouted with a nudge.

"Hmmm?" Haley smiled, looking up as if she hadn't missed a thing.

"What do you think?" Peyton asked, rolling her eyes good naturedly at the love-struck look on the petite girl's face.

"Think of what?" she asked with a confused shake of her head.

"Oh good God! A carnival? For the squad's fundraiser this year?" Brooke shrieked, flailing her arms in the air frustrated.

"Oh, oh yeah! I think it's a great idea Brooke! Especially if you have cotton candy and candied apples, you know, real carnival food. Oh! And deep fried snickers! Yummmm. Have you ever had one of those? They're amazing! I swear we totally have to get a deep fryer Brooke! That would be –"

"Good lord girl, is food all you ever think about?" Peyton asked, looking at Haley with wide eyes, causing her to laugh.

"Only on days that end in 'y'." Haley quipped.

Scrunching her forehead in confusion, Brooke turned to the blondes next to her. "Isn't that like, every day?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it Davis." Peyton chuckled as she watched Brooke's expression change from confused to frustrated as Haley's phone rang out, indicating she had yet another text.

"I swear it used to take that boy 20 minutes to write out his damned ABC's but he gets a text message from Haley and can type out the constitution in like, 10 seconds flat." Brooke grumbled, her glare intensifying when Haley only giggled in response.

"Okay Scott," Peyton started, snatching the phone from Haley's hand and dropping it into Brooke's purse on the other side of the chair. "For the next…however long Brooke has us for the day, there will be no more Nathan. No seeing Nathan, no calling Nathan, no texting Nathan. Okay?"

"What? Why? I was just texting him!" she exclaimed, pouting in the direction of where the phone was placed.

"Yes but its girl's day, Tutor-girl; meaning no boys, at all." Brooke announced proudly. "So, any suggestions for booths or games at the carnival?"

"How about a dunk tank?" Haley grumbled, smiling sardonically at the peppy girl before her.

"Hmm, that could be good. Maybe have them try to dunk the basketball team? Ooo, get it? Cause they like, dunk basketballs?!" Brooke asked excitedly, completely missing Haley's sarcasm or ignoring it on purpose. "Plus, it could never hurt to have such a fine selection of hot boys dripping wet. Maybe we could do strip dunk tank."

"And how exactly would that work?" Peyton laughed, although even she couldn't admit to being completely against the idea; she may be broody, but she sure as hell wasn't blind.

"I don't know, but it sounds delicious…" Brooke pondered, a smirk on her face bringing out mischievous dimple. "Anyways, what else?"

"What about a kissing booth?" Peyton suggested. "Have one for the guys to kiss selected, i.e – not me – cheerleaders and have one for the girls to kiss selected basketball players."

"Oooh, Peyton! I so knew there was reason you're my best friend!" Brooke squealed. "You know how much the girls of Tree Hill would pay to lay one on Nathan Scott?"

"Hey!" Haley exclaimed, gesturing to herself as if to make Brooke realize she was there. "Hello? Have you met me? Last name's Scott? As in, Nathan Scott?"

"Knowing his father that could mean you were his sister." Peyton quipped.

"Okay, ew." Haley groaned; her face screwed up in disgust.

"Yeah, sorry; didn't think that one through."

"Yeah. Anyways, you can't have Nathan at a kissing booth Brooke." She stated defiantly.

"Well Hales, you'll be on the girl's side." Brooke smiled innocently.

"Uh, no, I won't." she scoffed.

"C'mon Haley! It'll be fun!" Brooke encouraged. "It'll be your chance to up the number of people you've kissed in your life!"

Laughing incredulously, Haley turned to the brunette. "Brooke, I am perfectly content with the fact that I have only kissed three –"

"Four." Brooke interjected with a smug smile.

"-_four_" Haley fumed, "guys in my life. I don't need a kissing booth to boost my ego; I have a husband that will do that for me, thank you."

"Hales!" Brooke whined, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout. "Please, please, please? What's the harm in it?"

"The harm?" Haley laughed. "The harm is that last time a guy kissed me, Nathan damn near knocked him unconscious."

"I'll talk to Nathan about it!" Brooke rationalized.

"Yeah, that'll go over well." Peyton mused.

"No really, you'll see, I'm very persuasive when it comes to getting what I want." Brooke insisted with a smile.

"Brooke you do realize flirting with Nathan isn't going to get Haley to do anything, right?" Peyton asked half-joking, receiving a slap on the arm.

"Come on Hales, let me talk to Nathan. If he agrees, will you think about it? Please?" she begged, batting her eyelashes at the petite girl sweetly.

Collapsing back into her seat, Haley sighed dejectedly. "If you can get Nathan to agree, I'll think about it."

"YAY!" Brooke sang, settling back into her seat with a satisfied smile.

"_If_ Peyton does it too." Haley smiled deviously when she heard Brooke whimper, closing her eyes as she succumb to the calming effect of the massage.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so ridiculously sorry this took so long to update. I don't even have a good excuse other than I suck at life and I'm a slacker. Never the less, I hope a few of you still have an interest in this story, and if you do you can thank Dawn and Lori for pushing me to write. So this chapter is dedicated to my lovely Q and Punkin, lub ya a whole heap girlies!

Hope you all enjoy the update!

* * *

"So, let me get this straight Davis. You want me to tell you its okay with me if Haley is stationed at the kissing booth for the squad's fundraising carnival?" Nathan asked, eyeing Brooke warily as she smiled a little too brightly in his direction.

"Yeah! And I mean it's not like she'd be the only one…we were kind of hoping-"

"We being Brooke, by the way. I wasn't hoping anything." Haley interjected, sticking her tongue out at the brunette who returned the gesture before continuing.

"Anyways. We, being every female in the high school sans Tutor Wife, and me -because I want the money- were hoping that you would do the station on the guys side."

Staring at the two girls in front of him, Nathan had to bite back the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. On one end of the couch sat Brooke; pert, happy and sending him a convincing smile that would make most guys adhere to her every beck and call. On the other end sat his beautiful wife who was sporting an uncharacteristic frown and rolling her big brown eyes at every other word to leave Brooke's mouth.

"So that's it?" he questioned, looking between the two girls once again as Brooke's eyes lit up and she nodded her head vehemently and Haley's eyes widen as she captured her bottom lip between her teeth worriedly.

"Yeah! That's it! See Tutor Girl? I told you he wouldn't freak, I mean really it's just-"

"No way in hell." Nathan cut the babbling brunette short, the light in her eyes quickly transforming to a glare as Nathan's words registered.

"What?" Brooke screeched, causing both Nathan and Haley to wince. "Why not?"

Letting out an incredulous laugh, Nathan took a seat on the couch next to Haley, his hand automatically finding hers and intertwining their fingers. "Brooke, Haley and I just got things back to being semi-normal. Its bad enough I have to share her with you, now you want me to willingly let you offer her up to the entire male population of our school? Hell no."

"Nathan, she's a big girl. It's not like you're the only guy she's ever kissed!" She announced dramatically before slapping her hand over her mouth, eyes widening apologetically.

"Brooke!" Haley exclaimed, dropping her head down onto Nathan's shoulder which she noticed had tensed tremendously along with the grip he had on her hand.

"That's not the point Brooke." He stated, breathing deeply to maintain control.

"I know but-"

"Tell you what? I'll think about it if you give me and Haley some alone time." He broke in again, sending a smile in Brooke's direction to which she returned.

"I'll take what I can get. And lucky for you, I've got a date with Broody so I've got to get out of here anyways. You kids have fun. Haley, remember the rule about the sheets!" Brooke giggled, running out the door and closing it quickly behind her as Haley hurled a pillow in her direction.

Sighing, Nathan stretched his body out on the couch, laying his head in Haley's lap; his eyes fluttering shut as she ran her fingers soothingly across his shaven head.

"You're really going to consider it?" He heard Haley ask quietly.

"No way." He shook his head, his eyes still closed as he smiled when she let out relieved sigh. "I was just trying to get her out of here."

"Well it looks as though you've succeeded." She laid a kiss to his forehead. "But you know she's not going to forget that easily. Her attention span may normally be that of a goldfish, but when Brooke Davis wants something, she tends to badger and bother until she gets it. I mean, hello? I didn't choose to be a cheerleader all on my own."

"And here I thought you joined the squad to watch me and my sexy self everyday." Nathan said with a feigned pout, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he looked up to meet her amused gaze.

"Yes well, there's that." She relented with a smile, laughing as she noticed Nathan's pout quickly transform into that famous smirk of his.

Sitting up for a moment, Nathan pulled Haley to him as he stretched back out on the couch, bringing her to lie comfortably in the nook between his body and the back of the couch. Propping his head up with a throw pillow, he looked down at Haley, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder, her hand drawing lazy circles over his heart.

"Is this something you wanted to do?" Nathan asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence, dragging his fingers gently through her golden locks, his eyes closed with contentment.

"What? The Kissing booth?" Haley questioned, receiving a nod to which she shook her head with a smile. "Absolutely not. It's just a silly idea Brooke dreamed up. I'm more than happy to just kiss you."

"Because I'm such a great kisser?" he winked cockily, popping a kiss soundly to the top of her head.

"Well I was going to say because it's free, but yeah, that works too." She teased, squealing loudly as his fingers began a quick dance up and down her sides. "Nath-Nathan Scott stop it! Or I'll…I'll-" she panted in between giggles as his hands continued their assault.

"You'll what?" he continued, smirking down at her as she twisted and writhed beneath him.

"I'll give Brooke her black scrunchie back!" she screamed out, smiling triumphantly when his hands automatically froze, fingers still resting against her tiny frame.

"You wouldn't." he dared.

Quirking her eyebrow challengingly, Haley raised her head letting her mouth graze the shell of his ear as she whispered her response.

"Try me."

"Fine." Nathan relented with a pout, his hands rubbing soothing circles on her sides before wrapping his arms around her waist, bringing her head to rest against his shoulder again.

"Did you think I wanted to do the booth?" Haley questioned, raising her head slightly to look at him.

Shrugging, Nathan busied himself with wrapping and unwrapping a few blonde curls around his fingers, avoiding her curious gaze. Despite the initial anger he felt towards his wife when she went on tour, a large part of him blamed himself for giving her such a drastic ultimatum. He often found himself wondering if it was his slightly demanding way that made her leave. He never wanted her to feel as if he was trying to take control of her life, even if it was something as little and silly as a high school kissing booth.

"Nathan?" Her voice broke through his thoughts, the slight concern in her eyes evident.

"Sorry." He said with a small, reassuring smile. "I know it's not really your thing, I just…I didn't want to tell you what to do."

Smiling softly at the sincerity of his words, she nodded in understanding before once again assuring him she had no interest in participating in the kissing booth. Deciding to lighten the mood, Nathan turned to his wife with a curious smile.

"So as Brooke so bluntly suggested, I'm not the only guy you've kissed." Nathan began slowly, grimacing at the idea of anyone else looking at his wife, much less kissing her. "So Mrs. Scott, give me your kiss list."

"My kiss list?" Haley laughed incredulously, hoping to sway the conversation away from where her husband was taking it. "You've been around Brooke too long."

"Ha ha." He deadpanned, shifting slightly so he was sitting up, bringing Haley to sit on his lap, her legs straddling his. "I'm serious, I want to know. We never had the 'before us conversation' before we got married."

"No, we didn't." she said, her arms hanging loosely around his neck, the tips of her fingers idly playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. "But we did have the conversation about how if we did have the 'before us conversation', I'd have nothing to say and you could very well still be talking."

"You're oh-so funny, you know that?" he asked dryly, trying to hide his amusement as she nodded at him with a cheeky smile. "Obviously I didn't mean people you've slept with, I just want to know your past…kissing partners or…something. You know what I mean!"

Laughing at his flustered state, Haley leaned forward, brushing her lips languidly across his, swiping her tongue across his bottom lip before nipping at it slightly, pulling away with a lazy smile. "If I tell you, are you going to beat them up?"

"Depends who it is I guess." He smirked, earning a playful smack on his arm before she rolled her eyes and threw her head back dramatically.

"Ugh, I can't believe you're asking me this." She whined, sighing in defeat when her pouting look was met with his expectant gaze. "Fine, including you, I've kissed three guys."

"Three? That's it?" he asked, eyes widened in disbelief.

"Would you prefer it to be more?"

"Hell no, three is two too many in my opinion. So three; there's me, I'm assuming Lucas which doesn't really count since it was auction rules and…"he trailed off, taking note of the way Haley had her lip wedged between her teeth. "What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged dismissively. "It's just, that's not uh…that's not the only time I've kissed Lucas."

"What? You've kissed that ugly mug of his more than once and voluntarily?" Nathan asked, starting to wonder if maybe this conversation was a bad idea; the thought of his brother kissing his wife left him with an unsettling feeling.

"It wasn't a big deal; in fact you'll probably enjoy this story." Haley suggested, smiling at the familiar look of possessiveness in his blue eyes.

"Enjoy a story about my brother kissing my wife? Somehow I'm thinking not."

"Nathan, you were the one that wanted to do this so shut up and listen." She reprimanded lightly, placing a chaste kiss to his lips when he relaxed slightly and nodded for her to continue. "Okay, so we were twelve, and we were walking to the café after school one day and Lucas was going on and on about Peyton. And-"

"Peyton?" Nathan laughed, shaking his head at how some things never change.

"Yes, Peyton. And I swear if you ever repeat this story to Brooke I will kill you. Anyways, so he's going on about Peyton and how she's so pretty and smart and blah blah blah. Then he starts talking about how he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend but he needed to practice first. So he turns to me, goes through this whole dramatic speech because, he's Lucas and he's nothing if not wordy and long-winded-"

"Which is apparently catching." Nathan teased, waving his hand as if to tell her to get to the point.

"Well if you'd stop interrupting me!" She exclaimed, biting back a smile. "Anyways so he gives me the whole speech and before I know what's happening, he's leaning forward to kiss me and right about the time his lips connected with mine, my fist connected with his jaw."

"You punched him?!" Nathan choked out between laughs, the picture of his wife at twelve hitting his brother brought tears of laughter to his eyes.

"Well, he deserved it, putting his nasty mouth anywhere near my face." She justified, unable to stop a giggle as she thought back on the memory of Lucas trying to convince Keith and Karen that he'd gotten hit in the face while playing ball.

"That's my girl." Nathan held out his fist, Haley bumping it with her own as she beamed proudly. "So me, my nasty-mouth brother and…"

"Brian. Brian Reynolds." She finished for him quietly, distracting herself by picking the imaginary lint off his shirt.

"Brian Reynolds?! As in, 'Bad Breath Brian'?" Nathan laughed, his disbelieving smile only widening as Haley's face turned a deeper shade of crimson. "You actually kissed that guy?"

"Nathan, be nice. Brian was my boyfriend freshman year and he was a very sweet boy." Haley admonished, waving her hand in front of her face in an effort to relieve the heat there.

"That may be Hales, but that boy's breath was kickin'!"

"Why are we talking about this again?" she asked, making an attempt to move off of his lap, but his hands on her hips held her in place.

"You're right, I'm sorry. It wasn't nice, it's just-" he started, cutting his words short when he noticed the look of warning she sent him. "Nope, never mind. So that's it huh?"

He stopped for a second - thinking that he knew there was one more - it was on the tip of his tongue to say something but as he watched her nod and giggle, looking innocently flustered about the embarrassing admission of her first boyfriend, he realized he didn't want to taint this moment. They were moving on from it all – some days so much so he thought they were completely past it. He knew they still had plenty to talk about and work through, but he didn't have the heart to bring down the light moment they were sharing by mentioning something neither could change.

"So I can't beat up Luke because you beat me to the punch." He stated, laughing when she rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at a joke. "But as for this Brian kid…" he teased, cracking his knuckles and rolling back his shoulders, causing her to laugh.

"Don't you think he's suffered enough?" she asked with a laugh. "I mean, he's gone all through high school being called 'Bad Breath Brian'."

"True enough." Nathan relented with a laugh. "So was it bad?"

"Terrible." She immediately responded, causing him to laugh harder. "It was like kissing a gym sock."

"Nice."

"Yep so, that's my list, now let's hear your's." she said, giggling as his eyes widened.

"My…mine? I, uh –" he stumbled, raking his hand over his shaven head nervously.

"Oh honey," she laughed, climbing off his lap, making her way towards the kitchen. "I was kidding, we'd still be sitting here on graduation day waiting for you to finish." Hearing him growl playfully, she squealed, his foot steps not far behind her's as she raced into the kitchen, their laughter echoing through the small apartment.

- - -

Haley didn't know how she had done it, but she managed to convince Nathan to go home, by himself, for the night. She hated spending the night away from him, she hardly slept if she wasn't in his arms and usually ended up tossing and turning all night and being a complete waste for the next day. But she had told him if she was going to get Brooke to drop the whole kissing booth idea, she was going to need to butter the overzealous brunette up with some quality girl bonding time. So after an hour of convincing and a few dozen kisses that lasted longer than intended, she had pushed him out the door with an 'I love you' and a promise to call tomorrow.

Now she was curled up on the couch, Brooke in the swivel chair across from her and Peyton sprawled out on the floor; a large variety of junk food spread out between them as they talked over the movie playing on the television in front of them.

"So I was thinking," Peyton broke in, popping a marshmallow in her mouth; her face masked in confusion. "And I just want to make sure I have this right. Let's say after Karen and Keith get married, they have a baby-"

"Which would be so exciting because I could totally make maternity and baby clothes! Could you imagine Lucas as a big brother?" Brooke rambled on.

"Uh, Brooke? You do realize that Lucas is already a big brother right?" Haley questioned.

"Yes well…you know what I mean." She announced dismissively, waving Peyton on to continue her question.

"Right so, they have a baby. Which is Luke's brother or sister, right? But wouldn't it also be his cousin? And even though Lucas will have a new sibling/cousin, it'll only be Nathan's cousin and Dan would be its uncle." Peyton finished, her brow creased as she tried to sort through her thoughts.

"Only in Tree Hill." Haley sighed, the two girls nodding with her in agreement.

"So Tutor Girl," Brooke started with a sly smile. "What are the chances your hot shot of a hubby agreed to the kissing booth?"

"Oh he said he was fine with it." Haley stated, her eyes never leaving the television.

"Really?!" both Brooke and Peyton squealed in disbelief.

"No, not really! Seriously Brooke, did you really think he was going to agree to that?"

"Why not?" the brunette whined, flopping dramatically in to the chair she'd sprung out of. "What's the big deal?"

Laughing incredulously, Haley tore her eyes from the movie, realizing she'd just have to watch it later. "The big deal is Brooke is that Nathan and I are married, which means our time for kissing other people, has come and gone."

"Didn't stop you from kissing Chris." Brooke grumbled.

"Says the girl who slept with him!" Haley fired back, her patience wearing thin with the brunette in front of her.

"Okay ladies, let's just…retract the claws." Peyton jumped in, aware of the tension the mention of Chris Keller brought about. "Brooke, I think maybe you should stop bringing up Chris…that's probably not something Haley wants to be constantly reminded of."

"Thanks Peyton." Haley said softly, still being thrown slightly off kilter when Peyton defended her about the tour; it'd been such a sore subject between the two girls for so long Haley tried to avoid the subject when around Peyton.

"Yeah okay, whatever. Sorry Tutor Girl, I just…I don't see how a kissing booth is bad." Brooke apologized, shrugging innocently.

"The idea isn't bad Brooke, I'm just not comfortable with the thought of kissing other guys, not to mention kissing other guys while my husband watches and kisses other girls." Haley explained, grimacing at the thought of 200 high school girls lined up to lay one on her husband.

"Ugh, fine. But if you change your mind-" Brooke relented with a sigh.

"You'll be the first to know." Haley smiled, relieved that, for now, the subject was dropped. Even though knowing Brooke as well as she did, she knew it wasn't over.

For the rest of the night the girls just enjoyed each other's company, joking around, watching movies and gossiping before they decided to go to bed. Peyton all but collapsed into Brooke's bed, leaving the brunette girl no time to whine about sharing as she shrugged and joined the blonde, passing out within a matter of minutes. Haley climbed into her own bed, adjusting and readjusting the pillows as she tossed from side to side, trying to get comfortable.

After what seemed like hours of laying there awake, she turned to see that it was a little after three a.m. Sighing at herself pathetically, she grabbed the Celtic's jacket she'd commandeered from Nathan when they first got married and threw it on over her sweats. Deciding it'd be ridiculous to walk at that time of night, Haley grabbed Brooke's keys out of her purse, leaving the girls a note indicating where she and Brooke's vehicle would be.

Parking Brooke's car in front of her destination, Haley climbed out, and as she grabbed the spare key from under the rug and inserted it into the lock, she prayed Dan wouldn't be making another surprise visit to the house. Climbing the stairs to Nathan's room, she laughed at herself pitifully, realizing that the only reason she'd slept at all on tour without Nathan was due to pure exhaustion. Coming upon his closed door, she edged it open as quietly as possible, her eyes taking a minute to adjust to the darkness.

"How'd you escape the warden?" he asked, perched up on his elbows; laughing as he saw her tiny frame jump in surprise.

"Gah, you just took ten years off my life." She sighed, closing the door behind her. "And I waited until she and Peyton were passed out."

"You know," he began, smirking as she made her way towards him. "It's more exciting if you come in through the window."

"Maybe for you, but I'd be on the ground, on my ass if I'd attempted to climb that tree outside." She laughed, kicking off her shoes and tossing his jacket in a nearby chair as she climbed in next to him, snuggling down to rest her face in the crook of his neck as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"I'm glad you're here baby." He yawned, amazed at how quickly his body and mind relaxed with her there. "I was ten minutes away from going over there."

"This is better." She decided, her eyes closed; sleep quickly taking over her now completely content and relaxed body. "Your bed's bigger."

"Goodnight Hales, I love you."

"Mmm, love you too." She mumbled happily as they both drifted to sleep.


End file.
